A Facebook event titled a “simple maths competition” has been one of the platform’s most viral posts for the past six months. This event amassed approximately 51 million views during the first quarter of 2025, as reported in Facebook’s latest transparency report on widely viewed content.
This is notable for any post, yet it is the second consecutive quarter that the “maths competition” has secured the number two position on Meta’s list of widely viewed content. It also featured in the previous quarter’s report, where it garnered around 64.3 million views.
The reason behind this non-event’s more than 100 million views seems to stem from an old engagement tactic. The event’s header image features a piece of paper with the caption “only for genius” followed by a simple equation. When shared, the image appears prominently, resembling a typical post, with similarities to other viral simple math equations on Facebook over the past 15 years.
The event page shows extensive engagement, with over 800,000 people responding to the supposed July 8, 2024, event. Even nearly a year later, the event continues to receive comments, with many users discussing how to solve the equation or debating others’ interpretations. As noted by Slate in 2013, there is something compelling about debating basic arithmetic with strangers online.
The post’s viral status months after its original posting remains somewhat perplexing. Attempts to contact the creator, a Nigerian named Ebuka Peter Ibeh, were unsuccessful. The post appears significantly more successful than other recent posts by Ibeh, who has around 25,000 followers on Facebook.
This situation highlights the strange types of content and tactics that still achieve widespread virality on Facebook. Meta recently announced efforts to curb creators sharing spammy posts, though it is uncertain if this type of engagement bait is included in the content being targeted.
